Harold Augustus Wernher

Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet, (16 January 1893 – 30 June 1973) was a British Army officer and diamond magnate.

Life and career Wernher was born on 16 January 1893 the second son of Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Baronet, and his wife, Alice Sedgwick Mankiewicz. His father was a German-born Randlord and his mother was of Polish-Jewish ancestry. He reached the rank of major-general during the Second World War, and he played an important role in coordinating the logistics of Operation Overlord.

Second World War In September 1943, Wernher was appointed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill as Co-Ordinator of Ministry and Service Facilities (CMSF), in charge of overseeing the construction of all the Mulberry Harbour components.

In 1948, he inherited the Wernher baronetcy from his elder brother, Sir Derrick Wernher (1889–1948), who had no male heir. He had previously inherited Luton Hoo after his father's death in 1912.

He died in 1973 at Luton, Bedfordshire, and as he did not have any surviving male heir, the baronetcy became extinct. To avoid death duties, the Wernher estate donated the Wernher Triptych to the British Museum.

Marriage and children

On 20 July 1917, Wernher married Countess Anastasia Mikhailovna de Torby, the eldest child of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Countess Sophie Nikolaievna of Merenberg, first in a Russian Orthodox ceremony in the chapel of the Russian Embassy in Welbeck Street then in an Anglican ceremony in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace attended by King George V and Queen Mary. They had three children: Captain George Michael Alexander Wernher (22 August 1918 – 4 December 1942), killed in action during World War II. Georgina Wernher (17 October 1919 – 28 April 2011), married, first, Harold Joseph Phillips (6 November 1909 – 27 October 1980) on 10 October 1944, had issue, second, Sir George Kennard, 3rd Bt., in December 1992, no issue. Myra Alice Wernher (8 March 1925 – 29 July 2022), married David Henry Butter (1920–2010) on 5 November 1946, had issue.

His descendants include the 7th Duke of Westminster and the heirs apparent to the dukedom of Abercorn and the earldom of Dalhousie.

Arms